The best way to stay connected to the Android pulse everywhere. Our new app contains all the top Android news, reviews, app & games and the best deals just for you. Now with Disqus profile integration.

Android Authority newsletter

The best way to stay connected to the Android pulse. Our main newsletter is the Android Weekly which is sent every Sunday and contains all the top Android news, reviews and features from the past week.

100% Privacy, No Spam Policy: We value privacy and your email address will be 100% secure. We hate spam just like you do and will never send you too much email, nor will we ever share your information with anyone.

Buy now!

Name:

Subject:

Message:

New patent suggests Samsung may release Android devices with TV tuner for the US market

It’s hardly a revelation that, for some, smartphones are used for anything but making phone calls. While catching up on TV shows online is quite the norm in the US, folks in South Korea prefer their phones and other electronic devices to come with a receiver known as DMB Tuner, that lets them catch TV and radio programs. It appears Samsung is cooking up something that may bring the digital TV fever to American soil.

Patent Bolt has uncovered a patent application that Samsung recently submitted to the USPTO, covering a touch control scheme for future Android devices fitted with TV tuners. The patent involves the use of simple touch gestures to perform a series of actions, such as changing channels and recording a broadcast.

The premise of the patent is simple enough. To switch TV channels, users can simply draw the desired channel number on the touchscreen. Recording TV content on the device is just as simple – instead of drawing numbers, users just have to draw the letter “R”.

The patent application also reveals that Samsung is planning to equip the device with a DMB tuner, something that most Samsung devices in South Korea already ship with. For example, the South Korean variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 already has an antenna sticking out from the right side of the phone (as seen on the above picture). While DMB technology is prevalent in South Korea and in some European countries, the US use a different mobile digital TV standard known as the ATSCH-M/H. We’re not sure how that’ll play out.

It remains to be seen whether Samsung will really release Android devices with a TV tuner of some sort in the US. It could be that the Koreans are merely learning from the pro by filing for as many patents as possible now and thinking later about the actual implementation — even if the company doesn’t intend to follow them through.

Sade has an addiction, and it is incurable. Being as furiously addicted as he is mobile technology, it's only natural that he would want to work with the best Android site in the world. He scours the internet at all hours of the day and night to bring you the freshest, most interesting news on the rapidly expanding world of Android!